Shania Twain may be country music's biggest-selling female star, but Friday night's fan-oriented show proved she hasn't forgotten "the little people."
Throughout her 75-minute set at a sold-out KeyArena, Twain covered every end of the round stage, surrounded 360 degrees by her fans, singing and bending to sign autographs at the same time. She received flowers, high-fived several dozen hands and invited several lucky patrons onstage for photo opportunities.

However, some (particularly those seated mid-level and higher) might complain that this much attention to her audience sacrificed some of the show's musicality and showmanship. Twain's vocals and arrangements were pretty much straight off the CDs, and she couldn't show much spontaneity due to her multitasking.

But fans seemed to come for the meet-and-greet feel, dancing from the moment Twain took the stage with "Man! I Feel Like a Woman." Dressed in a hot-pink tank top, black yoga pants tucked into laced-up wrestling shoes and rhinestone choker, Twain launched into "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" "Honey I'm Home," "Up!" and "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)."

Twain also delved into older material such as "Who's Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" and "Any Man of Mine," and brought in local marching-band drummers for "(If You're Not in it for Love) I'm Outta Here!" Her songs are perfect for concert sing-alongs: they're easy to follow, with fun lyrics and sassy attitude. And that's what her fans come for.

Rather than focus on "Up!" her latest release, Twain stuck to fast-tempo hits from all her albums. What was disappointingly missing, however, were the love ballads that launched her name into the mainstream (not to mention thousands of weddings). "Forever and For Always" was noticeably absent, as were her other hits, "From This Moment On" and "You've Got a Way."

She did perform a piano-accompanied version of "You're Still the One," but did so with an aggressive, chatty audience member picked to sing it with her. He may have forgotten half the lyrics, but he didn't lose his nerve, leaving with autograph and picture, and showering Twain with compliments (turns out he'd managed to get chosen once before).

Her band, made up of eight musicians/singers, was as flashy and electrifying as the indoor fireworks that concluded the show. Dressed in '80s street-gang garb, they impressively switched instruments with ease, sang backup vocals and danced about the stage, occupying the open space whenever Twain moved and earning their own autograph requests.

Emerson Drive, a young sextet from Western Alberta, Canada, opened the concert.

Shania Twain's habit of bringing fans onstage led to an awkward moment Friday at KeyArena.
"The crew says to throw you off the stage," the strikingly beautiful pop-country singer told a paunchy, middle-aged man who had landed the show's top honor — a duet with the star. She soon realized that the persistent guy already had hit that jackpot at an earlier show on the tour.

Obviously miffed at picking him again, Twain nevertheless gamely went on with the bit, ruining "You're Still the One," her biggest hit, in the process. She even went along with his insistence that her photographer take a Polaroid of them.

The moment was telling because Twain has built fan participation — and adoration — into her act. That can work, in moderation, but for Twain it bordered on bedlam.

She had other fans come onstage to sing, get their picture taken with her, and be congratulated for collecting big sums for the charity.

All that activity cut into the music. In her 90-minute set, she performed only about a dozen songs (including a six-song medley). More than half the concert was taken up with her odd interactions with the crowd.

When she and her eight-piece band were performing, they were busy, busy, busy. The young, in-shape musicians got an aerobic workout running up, over and all around the big, two-tiered, metallic stage, sometimes in tightly choreographed moves. But they played flawlessly.

Fireworks erupted on a regular basis, including from the head of one of the fiddlers' violins. The lights were bright and plentiful.

Twain's voice sounded strained on the opening two numbers, "Man! I Feel Like A Woman!" and "Up!," but soon sounded fine. She did all her hits, including "That Don't Impress Me Much," "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" and "(If You're Not In It for Love) I'm Outta Here!"

Also exhaustingly energetic was the opening act, Emerson Drive, a rock/country band of six young men who were appreciated by the mostly-female audience.

Shania's Awkward Moment
-- Shania Twain likes to bring fans onstage during her concerts, but the practice led to an awkward moment during Friday's show at Seattle's KeyArena.

"The crew says to throw you off the stage," Shania told a paunchy, middle-aged man who had landed the show's top honor -- a duet with the star. She soon realized that the persistent guy already had hit that jackpot at an earlier show on the tour, according to The Seattle Times.

Yet, ever the lady, Twain went on with the bit, ruining "You're Still the One," her biggest hit, in the process, the paper reports. She even went along with the guy's insistence that her photographer take a Polaroid of them.

Very creepy.

countrynation.com

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